Networking architectures have grown increasingly complex in communications environments. In addition, the augmentation of clients or end users wishing to communicate in a network environment has caused many networking configurations and systems to respond by adding elements to accommodate the increase in networking traffic and the individualistic needs of new end users.
As the subscriber base of end users increases, proper routing and efficient management of communication sessions and data flows becomes even more critical. One significant area for any group of end users relates to emergency services (e.g. 911). The problem is particularly troubling in mobile service provider network architectures, where devices can roam from network to network. The issue is: How to offer an effective emergency service in a roaming environment. For example, if I am a customer of Cingular Wireless and I happen to vacation in Europe, I would like to be able to access emergency services if necessary. Emergency call scenarios are slightly more complex than conventional calls because there could be localized numbers. In cases where improper emergency service routing protocols are executed, the experience for any group of end users can suffer and even include grave consequences.
Thus, designing an effective network response to an emergency call provides a significant challenge to component manufacturers, system administrators, and network operators.